~~”Your family is all Jewish, right?” asked the woman.”Did you eat bagels at Thanksgiving?” I know a good way to dispel ignorance is to respond to the curious, but some questions should never be thought, let alone asked!

~~I’m dealing with an attorney now that must be getting paid by the hour, rather than by the deal. Every time he overcomplicates things, he’s likely making hundreds and hundreds of dollars more, while my days grow even longer and less lucrative.

~~ I saw this Op-Ed in yesterday’s NY Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/29/opinion/law-school-is-worth-the-money.html?ref=todayspaper&_r=0 It prompted me to write this letter, which may or may not be published: With all due respect to Dean Mitchell, I am one of those not-yet-graying baby-boom lawyers who cannot make way for his school's new graduates. I spent many years building a real estate practice (including paying off my law school debt over 14 years), only to see it crumble during our depressing recession. Much of my income evaporated while maybe-someday home buyers wait on the sidelines, resisting the enticements of potential sellers, so it's been a struggle to pay my health care premiums and malpractice insurance. While the Dean boasts that my law school training should have made me "creative, innovative and entrepreneurial" enough to overcome the recession's challenges, I now see that I should have instead become an employee of a law school, enjoying regular paychecks, benefits, and an opportunity to retire before I turn 90.

~~If I had $1.00 for every time someone asks me, “Do you think the Mets will sign David Wright and RA Dickey?” it’s likely that I might be able to afford to buy the team myself.

~~They say things happen for a reason. I’m always inclined to believe that, until some seemingly-random act eliminates that reassurance. This week, a few things happened that have put me back in the karma-controlling mindset: a reader of this blog reached out to extend a kindness, a contest loser (we’re doing giveaways on the Boating Times Long Island Facebook page) turned out to have a compelling human interest story for the magazine, and a contest winner spurred a way to help raise some money for Sandy rebuilding.

~~I was introduced to a woman. She shakes my hand and says, “You look like someone I know, except she’s taller, blonder, and younger.” When did “Nice to meet you!” go out of style?